NLRB to review card-check union election procedure

In a decision that could have a major impact on the battle waged between unions and companies, the National Labor Relations Board has decided to review a long-standing procedure in union elections.

By a 3-2 vote, the NLRB said Monday it would reconsider the process whereby companies recognize a union after more than half of the workers involved sign cards calling for the union.

The so-called card-check process has become popular among unions as they have sought ways to avoid the regular secret ballot system carried out by the NLRB.

A card-check election can be a shorter and less complex process as compared to the secret ballot system, which unions view as a legal land mine allowing companies opportunities to fight them endlessly in the courts.

Businesses have been fighting card-check elections for years, saying they allow unions to pressure workers to vote for them without the protections of federal monitors and regulations.

Desperate to halt the steady decline in their ranks, unions have embraced card-check elections.

Indeed, unions are likely to put up a hefty legal fight before the Republican-led NLRB as it weighs the issue.

"It is outrageous that they [NLRB] are even granting review. This is very well settled law," said Jon Hiatt, an attorney for the AFL-CIO, the umbrella organization for the nation's unions.

The board's two dissenting members, who are also its two Democrat appointees, echoed his view. They called the board's action "unsupported" and "highly questionable."

The board's action involves the United Auto Workers and separate elections that were held for workers at Dana Corp. in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and Metaldyne Corp. in St. Mary's, Pa.

In both cases the companies signed neutrality agreements, saying they would not oppose the union's organizing efforts, and the workers voted for the union in a card-check process.

Within weeks, however, workers at the two facilities asked to decertify the union. Regional NLRB officials rejected their challenges on the grounds that such decertification elections are regularly only allowed months after the initial election.

In its decision, the board said that it wanted to review the situation because of the increased popularity of card-check elections. But the board also signaled its view on the issue, saying it considers secret-ballot elections the best way to protect workers' rights.